Welcome Here at BSQ we know that the most important element of our teaching – whatever the age of the student – is learning vocabulary. Without the words to understand the lessons, the content and the concepts, it is impossible to fully and deeply secure the learning you need. Words are so important that the philosopher Wittgenstein once said that ‘The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.’ Of course, on a basic level we understand from this that without an extensive vocabulary our understanding, enjoyment and exploration of the world is very narrow and shallow. So, at BSQ we focus on learning vocabulary in every subject and it is useful to share with you some of the ways we do that. Here are three top tips you can use at home too.
Your class and subject teachers all use strategies like this and more to support the learning of new vocabulary so please do contact them if you would like any more ideas. Update from Dra. Sara As part of our commitment to keep our community safe, we are constantly reviewing the national and international studies, public information and recommendations. Due to the current situation of the circulation of new variants and the increase of the number of positive cases since December 2021, it is our expectation that all members of our community use the KN95 face mask as the standard for protection. The evidence supports that all masks offer some protection, but there are some more effective than others. The urging to use cloth masks at the beginning of the pandemic came due to the shortage of masks and other biosecurity protective gear for health care workers, but that is no longer the case, as all types of masks are widely available everywhere. As well, the manufacturing of cloth masks is unregulated, for this reason it’s hard to make sure they are properly made. Following you’ll find a very illustrative table that summarizes the difference between the types of masks: Source: ACGIH You can confirm the information and refresh the correct use of masks, the difference between all the types and other information on the following links: FDA: https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/personal-protective-equipment-infection-control/n95-respirators-surgical-masks-face-masks-and-barrier-face-coverings CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/infection-control-recommendations.html NHS: https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/secondary-care/infection-control/ppe/ffp3/ Dates for your Diary As always please check this section carefully and ensure that you have all the details in your calendars.
Emma Newman Principal Being BSQ – Primary Update This week we remain online following the COE national announcement, with all online sessions delivered through Canvas. Your child’s class teachers will share with you the resources and timetable - if you have any questions about these, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s class teacher or the relevant phase leader. This week, Year 6 parents are all invited to a discussion about the Year 6 Trip in May to Ceibo on Tuesday 18th January at 6pm on the Year 6 Canvas page. This will be an opportunity to find out all about the activities on offer, the safety arrangements and ask any questions you may have about this trip directly to Marcelo, the Ceibo representative, and Mr Kyle. This week we also have two Online Introduction Sessions for prospective parents - if you have any friends or family that would like to join these, please do contact me and I will arrange for them to be invited. I always enjoy sharing the school’s strengths and ethos at these events; as I speak about the students and the school I feel immense pride in our collective achievements as a school community and the way we live and learn together to support our students to be the very best they can be. Marcus Madden Head of Primary Reception Dear parents, Over the last two weeks, the Dragonflies have been working on their numeracy skills, specifically in counting numbers 1-10, recognising and naming these, ordering them and matching them to their corresponding quantity. Below you will find 3 great ways that you can practise these skills at home! Number war: Take a deck of cards and only keep the numbers, split them in two piles, find a partner and begin playing. At the same time flip the top card over, the highest card takes both, and the person with the most cards at the end of the round wins!. Number cups: Have 11 cups and number them from 0-10. Scramble these and ask your child to order them in a straight line. Once this is done, you can ask them to jump over them as they count aloud, this can be done forward or backward. You can also use these cups to bowl, ask your child to hit a specific number or count how many they hit and how many are left standing at the end of each round. Finally, you can use these cups to create different numbers from 1-98 and you can ask your child to name these. Can your child make a number you ask for? Ten-frames: This simple tool/strategy can be used to reinforce many skills needed in the world of Mathematics. Here you see one of our Dragonflies using the ten-frame to count rehearse understanding of one more and one less. After rehearsing this, ask your child to close their eyes and you can add or take away a few counters, can your child name the number now without counting? Are they able to recognise how many you took away or added? This is also useful when learning to subsidise. Kind regards, Ms. Antonella Coronel, Reception Teacher Being BSQ – Secondary Update Almost but not quite… Safety in caution Once again last week I was enormously impressed with the attendance and involvement in lessons. Can I take the opportunity to remind you all that (when we return to school) no students should attend with any sickness symptoms. It is critical that we make the school environment illness free to be on the safe side for all. Please keep coughs, colds and sneezes at home in case it might be the worst. We have improvised with the Year 11 mock exams to ensure that students receive fair Q1 reports and data. Normally the mocks would play a role in deciding outcomes but the timescales are too short with the delay. It is important that year 11 sit these in the way that they will experience the real thing in April/May which is why we preferred a postponement so that we can take these exams at school. It is to the credit of year 11 how well they received the news and just rolled with it. Once again this evidence shows how resilient and flexible our pupils are against adversity. I have read this week some interesting data and opinion on the last normal year that students have experienced in school and the impact that this has had on education. There has been much commentary in the media and within education about the coming exam season. The following image is quite stark when you consider the journey students and staff have been through. With year 11 as a case study and the importance of the fast-approaching international exams, it is important to note that they have had disruption for the last three years. Even more significantly, year 13 missed the formative year 11 where they sit formal exams and cope with the pressures of assessment, thus the experience and the lessons the experience instills are absent. This is why we are determined to give those important experiences and prepare them for the assessment rigor and pressures to come over the next few months. Looking ahead we have a couple of events to look forward to. On the 27th January, Year 11 and 13 parents will be meeting teaching staff to discuss performance in the mock exams. Around the 7th of February, you will be receiving Q1/P2 written reports. On the 18th February Year 11 will be enjoying a career and IB information day being led by Mrs. Montenegro and Miss Leon and finally, towards the end of February there is a science focus for the majority of the school and at the same time year 9 will enjoy some IGCSE experiences before choosing options for next year and year 11 can experience the same with IB subjects. As ever there are always things to look forward to ahead. Have a wonderful week everyone.
Lee Moors Head of Secondary
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May 2024
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